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Gloves Off For Dutton And Albanese In Third Campaign Trail Showdown

After a subdued day on the campaign trail, the prime minister and opposition leader have not held back, trading barbs and personal digs.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have turned the election personal, taking verbal jabs at each other as they tried to prove their chops.

On Tuesday night, the prime minister faced the coalition leader at Nine's Sydney studios for a third campaign trail showdown, moderated by A Current Affair host Ally Langdon.

Things got off to a subdued start as both leaders extended condolences to Catholic Australians following a day-long break in campaign activities in response to the death of Pope Francis.

But as Ms Langdon encouraged the two men to move away from talking points and "speak from the heart", the debate took a pugilistic turn.

"Prime minister, you couldn't lie straight in bed. Honestly, this is unbelievable," Mr Dutton said as he accused his opponent of dishonesty.

Mr Albanese said the opposition leader had reverted to "abuse".

"It's just abuse - that's a sign of desperation, Peter," the prime minister said.

The clash was generally light on policy as the more unusual questions homed in on the two leaders' character.

Throughout the campaign, Mr Dutton has used his history as a Queensland police officer to position himself as a "strong" leader while painting the prime minister as "weak".

"In my time as a police officer, where you see some truly horrible things ... I do think you become hardened," he said.

"We all are shaped by our own life experiences, but I hope what is says to people is that I'm absolutely determined and passionate about getting our country in the best possible position."

Asked if he needed to take on a "hard man" persona, Mr Albanese leaned into his supposed flaws.

"It's just rhetoric - kindness isn't weakness," he said.

"Kindness is something that I was raised with, we raise our children to be compassionate with each other."

The first leaders' debate, hosted by Sky News and The Daily Telegraph during the second week of the campaign, ended in a narrow victory for Mr Albanese after 44 per cent of the undecided voters in attendance deemed the prime minister the winner, though Mr Dutton netted 35 per cent of the crowd.

With AAP.